Cracked last night w/ my steamed tofu:
1. SeanThackrey Sirius DoomedVines Calif PetiteSirah MarstonVnyds/NapaVlly (13.2%) 1992: Very dark color w/ little bricking; strong peppery rather licorice/elderberry/spicy/PS very light eucalyptus/menthol light smokey/oak fairly complex perfumed/exotic nose; some hard/tannic rather peppery/spicy/eucalyptus light smokey/oak strong elverberry/PS/spicy/licorice some complex flavor; very long black cherry/elderberry/peppery/PS/licorice slight smokey/oak rather hard/tannic/gritty finish; lovely mature/complex PS nose but rather hard/tannic on the palate; probably will never come together and outlive the tannins. $24.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. As I recall the story, this was the last harvest of the old PetiteSirah vines off the MarstonVnyd on the flanks of SpringMtn. So sad that those vines were ripped. The bright side (??) is that they were replaced by Cabernet, PhilippeMelka makes the MarstonFamilyVnyds Cabernet, and the world has another high-end Cabernet to relish, instead of that ugly/old-fashioned/quaint PetiteSirah.
The vnyd was originally planted in the 1890's, but not sure when the PS was planted. The Marston's bought the property from AlMenasco in 1969.
The vnyd first came to my attention back in 1976 (by crackey) when I tasted Frank's PS from their. In 1975, both FrankMahoney/CarnerosCreekWnry and MikeBernstein/MtVeederWnry made PS from those grapes. They both were legendary wines that rivaled the RidgeYorkCreekPS '71. Huge/black/extracted/intense...like drinking creasote. This Thackrey PS, on its release, rivaled those wines. The nose last night was a classic/mature Calif PS. Though it still has plenty of fruit, I'm not sure it will ever outlive the fierce tannins that remain. Alas, my last (known) bottle.
Tom